Misunderstandings
by littlemissraindrop
Summary: Harry, Ron and Hermione aren't communicating but what in fact happened to make this the case? It's due to misunderstandings, misconceptions and actions which weren't meant to be seen RHr fluff as well as traditional major arguments
1. A very quiet home

Disclaimer: Still don't own the characters, though I wish I did!

Post Goblet of Fire, Pre Order of the Phoenix.

I am aware that it doesn't quite fit bearing in mind the order of events at the end of GOF and the beginning of OotP but I just felt that it was an idea I couldn't just forget about so please read with an open mind.

Enjoy!

August 21st 

There was a chill in the air at The Burrows, Ron and Hermione weren't speaking and Ron blamed Harry for it. They had all been avoiding each other since 'the kiss' the day before. Tension was building and you could literally feel it in the atmosphere of the small family home.

Harry felt guilty for coming between Hermione and Ron, Ron was angry with Harry for ruining his chances and Hermione didn't see what the fuss was about.

Of course, the twins had welcomed the story with open arms and had now found a new way to irritate everybody in the household yet again just by mentioning the odd word or two of what they had heard from the portrait of their great uncle which hung on the wall of the living room.

Ron had isolated himself in his room since the incident that morning and was going to be cautious as to when he would take visits to the bathroom or kitchen depending on where Hermione was at the time.

However, the fourth time he tried to get out he was unfortunate in his timing and exited his room just as Hermione was leaving Ginny's. With a startled look he began to bolt along the landing, trying to pass her as quickly as possible. At the same time, Hermione calculated the moment that he would pass her and promptly placed her left hand on the wall to block his route then backed him into an alcove.

'It was just a kiss, Ron,' Hermione addressed him, planting her right hand firmly against the wall next to his left shoulder, 'just a friendly kiss, not a big deal.'

'No,' Ron shook his head violently, 'you see, it is a big deal to me. People don't kiss other people for no apparent reason, especially like that. Don't you see, Hermione? It must have meant something.'

'There is such a thing as a friendly kiss, Ronald!'

'As I said, not like that! I was there; there was some sort of passion in it! You must have felt it.'

'I didn't, I like someone else for God's sake.'

'Oh, and that makes it all alright, does it?'

'It should for you, yes. You should be happy that I haven't fallen for one of my best friends.'

'Then is there a reason that the kiss happened?'

'It was just friendship, reassurance. It wasn't meant to hurt anyone.'

'Which is why it was in the middle of my living room, where anyone could have walked in.'

'As I recall, that's exactly what happened. We were interrupted in the middle of a private conversation…'

'Conversation!'

'… and now you're embarrassed, blaming Harry when it wasn't his fault and avoiding me so that the same thing doesn't happen again.'

'Oh, forget it Hermione! It's forgotten, it never happened.'

'No! I don't want it thought of having never happened, I want it cleared up so that we can all be friends.'

'Well, maybe after what you've said to me I want it forgotten because it hurts too much for me to think of it.'

'Hurts? Ron, what are you…'

Ron looked at the ground reluctantly.

'What do you mean?'

'Maybe I don't have the same feeling for you as you evidently have for me,' Ron snarled at Hermione as he pushed her backwards lightly to escape the corner he had been forced into.

Hermione watched in amazement as he bolted down the hallway and disappeared down the staircase. What had she done? It had been a friendly kiss, nothing more and Ron had misinterpreted it for something more intense.


	2. Hermione's POV

August 22nd- Hermione's POV

It had been an uncomfortable moment; a kiss, an interruption, a misunderstanding which should really have been sorted between Ron and Hermione. Harry had had no say in the matter and wasn't to blame for the series of events. Anyone could have walked in but it was he, of all people it could have been. Ron had misinterpreted the meaning of the kiss and now it had become a full-blown argument.

She recalled that they'd been talking, just talking. But then the conversation had turned to relationship and before she knew it she was kissing him.

No reason, no wait! There had been a reason, he was afraid of having no experience in kissing and was worried that he liked a girl and that he'd mess it up.

She'd known who he was talking about.

She was sure that she felt like she was in the same position and didn't want to lose Ron by never kissing him even if he did like Lavender. So with that she had decided to take that chance to solve both of their problems, she didn't stop to think that it might have been uncomfortable with one not fancying the other.

Of course, that was when he had walked in. When they were interrupted by a gasp of confusion they had broken apart suddenly. Hermione had tried to make her excuses about it really being nothing and that she had felt nothing during the kiss but as she looked at Ron it was obvious that he didn't like what he'd heard.

He had stormed out of the room without a word to Harry, who was still standing there in confusion and amazement, and had spent the next few days hidden away in his room which he had promptly kicked Harry out of.

She didn't understand why it had hurt Ron so much. It wasn't like he liked her as more than a friend anyway. She liked him, but she couldn't let him know that and what had happened had managed to make things worse.

So she tried to forget about it.

Lying on the floor in Ginny's room, a habit which seemed to have formed since the incident, Hermione couldn't help wondering if she'd committed the ultimate betrayal. A betrayal, which had been towards a particular redhead whom she considered a very good friend.

A redhead whom she considered as family and whom she knew would be greatly affected by the after effects of the kiss.

Had she committed the ultimate betrayal to Ginny Weasley?


	3. Ron's POV

August 23rd- Ron's POV

'_She says that she hasn't fallen for one of her best friends,' _thought Ron, _'she thinks that's supposed to make me feel better. How can I feel better? Haven't my feelings been obvious to her for the last four years?'_

Ron paced to room in annoyance; it had been a few days since she kissed him. He kept saying that it was the kiss that hurt most so that he kept his feelings hidden, but what he was really hurt by was her denial.

They were friends, the kiss hadn't been a problem, it could have been friendly. Passionate, he admitted, but friendly. They were going through tough times; she was very likely to be looking for comfort.

But the things she had said to convince him that it wasn't love or passion were what hurt him most. Every time she denied it, it seemed to relate to the two of them.

'_You should be happy that I haven't fallen for one of my best friends' _was one of the things that kept running through his head. True, in a way that should have made him feel better but on the other hand, it showed that he was trapped in a corner. He was in love with her and she only saw him as a friend.

She couldn't see how much this whole situation was hurting him inside. She insisted that she hadn't really wanted to kiss him and it was just out of fear and confusion. But he had really wanted to be the one to kiss her.

It hadn't worked out like that, the confusion and avoidance that followed hadn't helped the situation.

'_Avoiding me so that the same thing doesn't happen again' _was one of the things that she accused him of.He wasn't avoiding her because it might happen again; he was avoiding her because he didn't want to have to go through the after effects again.

The rejection, the denial, those words that shot straight to his heart. He wouldn't allow himself to get hurt again or have a chance to betray his feelings.


	4. Faceoffs and flashbacks

August 24th

As lunch was served, the trio reluctantly left what they were doing and sat down at the table in silence. As it was raining, they had all had an excuse to segregate to separate rooms of the house.

Ron had been sitting in his room, trying to concentrate on his new Chudley Canons biography and failing miserably as his mind wandered back to Harry and Hermione. Hermione had been in Ginny's room lying on the floor contemplating what had gone wrong over the past couple of days and Harry had decided to find Mr Weasley in the garage to finally explain the function of a rubber duck.

They had effectively managed to avoid each other for a whole three days, except for the run in that Ron and Hermione had briefly had the day after. By now, the twins had found out what had happened and were determined to rub it in next time the three of them were together.

'Well, well, well,' said George as Ron joined the rest of the group at the table in the kitchen, 'if it isn't the usual suspects.'

'Speak for yourself,' said Ginny, the only one not affected by the news knowing that it was all just a misunderstanding, as she reached across for some bread from the breadbasket. Hermione had spoken to her about the incident and Ginny felt that she understood completely, much to Hermione's relief.

'Any developments?' asked Fred as he drummed his fingers together mischievously.

'On what?' asked Mrs Weasley as she entered the room with a saucepan full of soup.

'On the situation between these three hormonal teenagers,' George piped up before Fred even had time to open his mouth, 'there's been a lot of kissing going on under your own roof and you weren't even aware of it because all three of them are _so _embarrassed…'

'SHUT UP,' Ron stood up so quickly and violently that the table shook, 'JUST SHUT UP!'

Hermione and Harry both looked up at him in amazement; in a way, Harry knew what was wrong but Hermione was oblivious to what was going on in Ron's head at that moment.

'Ron, I don't see why you're getting so worked up,' squeaked Hermione, 'it was just…'

'Just a friendly kiss,' Ron cut her off, 'Yeah, I know! You keep saying. But what if it wasn't, you refuse to admit that it could be something more.'

'Because it _wasn't _anything more, you're reading too much into this,' she got to her feet, and leant across the table to him, 'if you'd given me time to talk after the incident instead of locking yourself away in your room then maybe you would have understood my feeling.'

'I know what happened, I was there!' he leaned forwards in anger.

'You don't know the whole story,' Hermione snapped.

'Look, you two,' Harry said, hoping to make the situation better, 'this is my fault…'

'No it isn't, Harry. You had no say in the matter,' Hermione pointed at him.

'No say?' Ron scoffed, 'he's at the heart of it, if he hadn't been there then none of this would have happened.'

'Maybe it was my fault,' Hermione yelled, bringing her face closer to his, steadying herself with the table.

'Partly yours, partly his,' Ron replied.

'Stop being so childish, Ronald!'

'Will you two please sit down and tell me what's been going on?' Mrs Weasley pleaded, raising her voice over the squabbling of the pair.

'Ask Hermione,' Ron snarled, now nose to nose with Hermione, 'she knows _exactly _what happened!'

For a second they just stood there in silence, Hermione could feel Ron's warm breath on her face and could see deep into his eyes. She could see all of the hurt which he must have been bottling up since the incident and was beginning to fully understand why he was acting this way, 'Ron, I…' was all she could say before she broke off, as her breath caught in her throat at the discoveries she was making mentally.

Ron waited for her to say something, anything that may restore his hope in their relationship. When she didn't continue he turned from her and left through the back door into the rain, knocking into Mr Weasley as he went.

Hermione sat down heavily, partly in shock and partly from exhaustion. She looked across at Harry who gave her an urging look, Hermione nodded. She understood; excusing herself she headed after Ron, quickening her pace with every step.

'What on earth has been going on?' asked Mr Weasley.

'I was going to ask the same question,' said his wife.

Ginny looked across at Harry, 'Hermione kissed Harry.'

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

August 20th

'Hermione?' Harry asked from across the room. There had been a silence between them since they had run out of things to say and Hermione had resorted to reading History of Magic again.

'Hmmm…' Hermione replied, not looking up from her book. Curled up in an arm chair, Hermione had managed to completely forget that she was in Harry's company and therefore didn't register at first that he wanted to talk.

'What happens if I decide to kiss Cho next year?' This got Hermione's attention fully, she snapped her head up immediately and looked across at Harry with a puzzled expression on her face.

'Are you intending on kissing Cho next year?'

'Well, you know, if the occasion arose then…' his sentence drifted off as he tried to find some way of explaining himself, 'erm, well, not Cho in particular but what if I wanted to kiss anyone in future?'

'What about it?' Hermione closed her book, now intrigued by this choice of topic.

'Well, you have experience and I was wondering, you know,' his cheeks were going red, 'how do you kiss someone?' He rushed the last part of the sentence; he kind of wished he hadn't started this conversation and now hoped that Hermione hadn't heard the last bit.

Hermione stood up and walked across to stand in front of Harry, 'stand up.'

'What?'

Hermione took Harry by the arms and pulled him upright, 'now, look me in the eye and tell me what's troubling you.' She'd never kissed Victor properly before but she wasn't going to let on to Harry about that quite yet.

'It's just, you see, I've never felt like this about anyone before. Cho makes me feel like there's butterflies in my stomach, I can't speak around her, it's difficult to breathe…

'_That's exactly how I feel about Ron,' _thought Hermione.

'… but she's been with Cedric and I'm worried that if I go to kiss her then I'll make a fool out of myself…'

'I wish I had experience in kissing someone too, what if I mess it up. Wait, Ron likes Lavender… but I can't die without him ever knowing I liked him.'

'…so now I'm thinking that you might know what to do and could help me to understand and I feel so stupid for asking you this and…' he began to gabble uncontrollably now that he realised what he'd done.

'_I could always kiss Harry, experience for both of us… no, what a stupid idea, but why not?' _Hermione struggled with her thoughts. Should she just kiss Harry or should she explain to him the exact logistics of kissing someone?

'…anyway, now that I've made a complete fool out of myself can you just help me out and…'

'Choice A seems like the easier option.'

'Oh, shut up, Harry!'

And with that, Hermione kissed Harry fully on the mouth. No passion, just a kiss. Harry seemed to take a sudden intake of breath and at the same time they both heard a gasp of confusion.

Pulling away suddenly, they both looked towards the door and saw Ron standing there in shock. Backing away from each other, Hermione began to explain what had happened.

'It was nothing, Ron, just a friendly kiss. Harry was worried and… and… it meant nothing. I feel nothing for Harry beyond friendship, right Harry?'

Harry was still standing there in amazement; however, he nodded his head in agreement and finally managed to get out the words, 'all a misunderstanding mate, Hermione was trying to help me to overcome…'

'Shut up, both of you!' yelled Ron and without a further word to either of them, he turned and slammed the door behind him. They could hear the sound of banging as he mounted the staircase and entered his bedroom.

Harry just stood there looking guilty for a moment; he knew why Ron was so upset. He wanted to tell Hermione but had been sworn to secrecy, if he'd been able to tell her then this would have all been worked out by teatime. Instead, he looked to Hermione for explanation, still confused at why she had kissed him.

Looking back at him, Hermione shrugged, 'Sorry Harry, choice A was easier than choice B. You were just going on about no experience and liking someone, and I feel the same. No Harry, I have never really kissed Victor,' Hermione said as Harry opened his mouth to protest. As he closed it again she continued, 'in the end I just snapped, you need experience, I need experience, I just didn't think of the consequences. Can you forgive me?'

Harry smiled, 'of course I can,' he walked across and hugged her, 'I know who you like and I think it's important that you explain the situation to Ron. Just promise me you'll never do anything like that to me again.'

'Promise,' replied Hermione, 'and I will tell Ron, he'll understand.'

How little she knew of the situation at that point.


	5. Confronting the truth

August 24th 

'Ron!' Hermione could just about make out Ron through the pouring rain. He seemed to have no intention of stopping, 'Ron, please I need to explain!' she yelled over the sound of thunder and the rain hitting the gravel pathway. She began to run to catch up with him, _what have I done? _She thought, _how have I managed to do this to one of the people I care most about?_

'Ron,' she shouted as she caught hold of his wrist, swivelling him round to face her, 'I'm sorry!'

She looked at him full in the face and could see more clearly all of the signs of pain and anger; more defined than they had ever been when she had got together with Victor, 'what for? You said it was just friendly, why shouldn't I believe you?'

I'm sorry that it hurt you, I never like to see you hurt,' Hermione replied keeping her eyes focused on his.

Ron turned his face away, 'it doesn't matter,' he shrugged, 'I over-reacted.'

'Yes, you did a bit. But partly with good reason, you only saw half of what happened, if not less.'

'I saw enough…'

'No, Ron! You didn't see enough; you definitely didn't see enough to know what was going on. Look at me.'

Ron didn't look back to her.

'Ron, look at me,' she repeated in a determined manner.

When he refused to look up after the second time of asking, Hermione continued regardless.

'Harry was worried about the fact that he likes Cho and hasn't kissed a girl before.'

'So you took it upon yourself to solve that problem?' replied Ron mockingly, gazing intently at his shoes.

'In a way, yes!' Hermione shouted back over the rain, 'he just kept going on and on about it and I found myself worrying that I was in the same position as him. I became worried that I like someone and was afraid that I may also not be experienced enough.'

'You had experience with Victor.'

'No, no I didn't,' Hermione stated, 'I never properly kissed Victor. So anyway, there we both were, an empty room, both with anxieties and in the end I just snapped…'

'And kissed him?'

'Yes, and that's when you obviously walked in. Harry's not to blame for this, he was a bit taken aback at first but at least he understands why I did it. I had my own insecurities about liking someone so I solved both of our problems…'

'Enough!' Ron interrupted.

'What?' Hermione exclaimed, 'I'm trying to make amends for what happened to make you feel better.'

'You're not; you're not making me feel _any _better!'

'Well, would you like to tell me what your problem is if this _obviously _isn't working?'

No, look. If you like someone else then you don't need to hear what I was going to say,' he removed his wrist from her grasp, he continued in a quiet voice, 'I should have known to drop it when you said that you hadn't fallen for one of your best friends.'

He then turned and continued up the path towards the summerhouse, his heart ached and he was soaked through. _She likes someone else. Four years of keeping this bottled up and she tells me she likes someone else. _Tears that had been forming in the corners of his deep blue eyes threatened to fall, he craved the dry, warm environment of his home but felt that he couldn't return there quite yet.

He felt mortified, all the protection he had given Hermione over the years, and he had stood by her, done everything with her best interests in mind. Everyone knew it and to return to 'The Burrows' after this event would mean he would be subject to pity and sympathy, something that he didn't need from anyone.

No, for now he needed to be alone; he knew the perfect place that had been his hideout since he was a small child, a small cove just beyond the end of the field where he could sit and contemplate.

After the idiot he had made of himself he doubted that Hermione would follow him. He had only travelled a few meters from where she had stood but convinced himself that she was probably half way back to the house by now.

'I said you should be glad that I hadn't fallen for one of my best friends, I never said I hadn't fallen for the other one!'

Ron stopped dead in his tracks; he closed his eyes briefly trying to make sense of things and stop the world from spinning. He turned round to see if he'd actually heard what he thought he'd heard or whether he was dreaming.

His eyes met with the image of Hermione, still standing exactly where he had left her. Her usually bouncy hair had become lank with the rain, her clothes had taken the effect of a sponge and she was shivering both with the cold and with rage. She was crying, though the tears mingled with the raindrops on her face Ron could see red rings around her eyes and a glistening in them, which he had rarely seen before.

'What?'

'Oh, Ron you idiot! Couldn't you see that it was you all along? I lecture you, I help you in more ways than I help Harry…' Ron began to stride forward, he was beginning to understand that this may be his only chance to get it right before she gave up on him for good, 'I even told you to ask me to the next ball, for the love of Merlin and still you think that that I could like someone else! You really aren't as clever as I thought…'

She was cut off mid-sentence as her breath caught in her throat when Ron caught her round the back of the neck and pulled her face towards his.

Was this it, the kiss that would change their relationship forever?

However, a second before their lips could collide, Ron stopped. He drew back his breath and for a minute just touched his forehead against hers. Hermione could see that he had close his eyes and seemed to be mustering up strength and collecting himself. She just wanted to close the gap between them and kiss him.

But before she could, Ron's eyes snapped open. They seemed to hold a glint of panic as he began to step back. A rush of cold air hit the back of Hermione's neck as he removed his hand hastily. She could no longer feel the heat that had radiated from his body as he started to trip and stumble backwards.

'I… I'm sorry, I'm so sorry,' he stammered continuing to take long strides backwards, denial and embarrassment written across his face, 'it won't happen again, I promise.'

'Ron? I said I liked you,' Hermione said, quite taken aback by this change of attitude, 'it's fine, really.'

'No,' Ron continued, stumbling over a rock, 'I shouldn't have… you were vulnerable… didn't know what you were saying… we almost… I shouldn't have,' he took a steadying breath, 'I'm sorry.' He turned and walked off towards the cove before Hermione had another chance to protest.


	6. Rain and realisation

August 24th continued

After a few minutes of standing in the rain, watching Ron disappear rapidly into the distance, Hermione re-entered the kitchen of 'The Burrows' drenched from head to foot. She wanted to cry but couldn't, she didn't want to show weakness in front of the six people looking expectantly at her.

'Well?' said Harry.

'Has he told you?' piped up Ginny.

Hermione looked suitably surprised, 'you all knew?'

'Of course we did, dear,' Mrs Weasley said comfortingly.

'So?' Harry pressed on.

Hermione almost burst into tears at that moment; the thought of what had just happened hit her hard. Up until that moment her brain hadn't registered how close to admitting his feelings for her he had actually been. 'No, almost but no. Could I have a minute please?'

Harry came round to give her a strong hug, 'of course,' he whispered, 'take as much time as you want.' With that he ushered the twins and Ginny out of the kitchen towards the living room whilst Mr Weasley followed suit.

Hermione reminisced the events; his hand on the back of her neck, his breath on her cheek. They had been so close yet so far apart, Hermione cursed that this was the time that Ron had decided to listen to his conscience. She admitted that she had been vulnerable at the time but it was _because _of him, emotion flooded through her and she was unable to stop the tears now breaking through again.

Mrs Weasley took her in her arms as tears began to fall from Hermione's eyes, then to Hermione's surprise she whispered to her, 'he's in his cove at the end of the field. Go after him, it's not too late.'

Holding her at arms length, Mrs Weasley looked at Hermione intently, 'what are you waiting for?' she asked.

Hermione smiled weakly at Mrs Weasley and dried her eyes, 'Thank you,' she replied before bolting out of the door and across the field.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Ron was sitting in silence in the cove, he felt safe and secure there. A quiet place to sit and think about what he had done. He was sitting on the hard ground with his legs draw up to his chest and was resting his chin on his knees. He closed his eyes and contemplated what had happened.

He had almost kissed Hermione, jeopardised their friendship, given away his feelings. He didn't like that he had stopped but he'd felt afraid of taking that leap into the unknown.

But Hermione had said that she'd fallen for him; that was what had surprised him most. Not his actions or feelings but that she had told him that she was in love with him!

But what should he do now? Things couldn't go back to the way they were, if he'd kissed her then they would be at some fixed point but he hadn't. They were somewhere between friends and more than friends. If only there was an occasion for a second chance.

'There couldn't have been a worse time for you to find your conscience,' came a shout from in front of him.

He opened his eyes and lifted his head in amazement; Hermione was striding across the field towards him with a look of fury in her eyes.

'You expect to be able to act like that around me then walk off without an explanation?'

' Hermione, I…' Ron found it difficult to find a useful reply as he watched Hermione coming closer, not looking happy at all.

'I told you I loved you and you disappear! How do you think that makes me feel?'

Ron got to his feet quickly and began to walk towards her, 'you were confused, you didn't know what you were saying.'

'Oh, I knew _exactly _what I was saying! I don't know what the hell you were playing at though,' she had slowed down slightly but still came closer, 'you're temperamental about Victor, you were when you thought there was something between me and Harry…'

'Because I was uncomfortable…' replied Ron.

'Why, Ron? Just tell me why I should put up with this any longer?'

'I'm your best friend, it's my job to look after you!'

'No, no it isn't Ron! You're supposed to be happy for me and support my decisions. Try again!'

'Because I love you!' Ron shouted back, surprising himself but not Hermione.

Both taking their final steps towards each other before they collided, Hermione said simply, 'then prove it.'

Again, Ron placed his hand around the back of her neck and drew her forwards to close the gap between them, but this time he kissed her squarely on the mouth. Hermione placed one arm around his waist and ran the fingers of her other hand through his rain soaked hair.

As the kiss deepened, Ron entwined the fingers of his hand on her neck in her beautiful brown hair and placed a hand on her back, not wanting to ever let go. The rain kept coming thick and fast but neither noticed.

Ron's secret place now had a reason to be his favourite.


End file.
